Jack Ryan, who has just been named CIA deputy director of intelligence, is enraged when he discovers that he has been left out of the loop of Columbian operations. Several of America's most highly trained soldiers are stranded on an unfinished mission that, according to all records, never existed. Ryan decides to get the men out.

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Publisher's Summary

The U.S. president, unsatisfied with the success of his "war on drugs", decides that he wants some immediate success. But after John Clark's covert strike team is deployed to Colombia for Operation Showboat, the drug lords strike back, taking several civilian casualties. The chief executive's polls plummet. He orders that the unofficial plan be terminated, leaving no traces.

Jack Ryan, who has just been named CIA deputy director of intelligence, is enraged when he discovers that he has been left out of the loop. Several of America's most highly trained soldiers are stranded on an unfinished mission that, according to all records, never existed. Ryan decides to get the men out.

First I want to say this is a great book, in print! I spend my days driving and love to listen to books on my Ipod.
The first thing I noticed was the narrator talks like he is dictating a long letter. I do not think he ever takes a breath and he talks very fast.
Sometimes he moves from one chapter to the next without a pause and I get lost. I also find it hard to distinguse between characters because his voice never seems to change.
These things may not bother some people but this is a very long book and the narrator of a book can either make or break a book.

When you listen to this book you want to check your tape player, and clean the head and rollers, but wait, you can't because it is a digital recording. The quality of the recording is horrible. The person who produced this version of the recording needs to be fired along with the quality assurance people who you would expect to be checking the recording. This is not a Audible problem, the MP3 recordings from Brilliance are the same horrible clipped compression. I bought the Hunt for Red October on MP3 cd and it has the same flaws. Someone should have caught this.

I read this book in hardback. I was surprised at how long it took to set up the storyline. It took patience, I never cared for the mechanical details in Clancy's work and usually breezed by it as a reader.
However, his characters are so well developed and believable. After the ball finally got rolling in the second part of the reading, I could not stop listening. The action and suspense are nothing short of remarkable.

I would if that person is also into Tom Clancy, but I think there are other stories that are more exciting. but this is not a good introductory book into the Tom Clancy/ Jack Ryan Universe

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

I Thought it was pretty crazy at times. Tom Clancy describes things in such great detail and knows how the world works! It was that much more believable!

Which character – as performed by J. Charles – was your favorite?

Honestly? J. Charles was a Bit flat sometimes, there was no real distinction or differentiation between characters.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending was good. the Narrator did a great job when one of the characters dies.also another part was a Gunfight between a Police officer mowing his lawn and two Drug cartel hit-men was performed really well that was intense.

Any additional comments?

There are no clear transitions from the Narrator when the story changes locations and characters. Several times I found myself confused as to how these characters were with another group. or I thought they were in Washington? how could he be men in AK-47's marching up a Hill? oh now it's Chavez and Vega. I thought Jack was just at the Hospital with Greer.

Stuff like that, they don't emphasize the change in scenery. you need to be paying attention REALLY Hard.

I would not recommend this book to anyone. The simple facts are these; first, I couldn't tell which character was which. The performer in this book made every communal group of characters to sound exactly like each of the other characters in that particular community or group of characters. Second, whomever he was performing at the time sounded like a poorly trained actor. Third, my own personal opinion is that Clancy should not be experienced through Audible "reading". I have read several of his books, and attempted to listen to a different Clancy novel and ended up returning it based purely on the performer. However, I figured I'd give Clancy, and the narrator another shot, but this time with a book I had already read, and watched the movie. It didn't help. I wish I could return this one as well; it was that bad. However, I couldn't, in good conscience do that since I did in fact listen to the entire book. I will say this though, if it hadn't been for the fact that I was traveling cross country for Christmas and listened to the book in two sittings, I would have returned it. I didn't enjoy this at all. The narrator is by far and away the biggest reason why though.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Since I have read the book myself, I can easily say in the book form, Clark is easily my favorite character. Sadly, his character is lost in the droning and confusion of the narrator's inability to create different voices for every character and you end up not being able to connect to him as you do in the book form; or the movie for that matter!

What didn’t you like about J. Charles’s performance?

Charles' performance leaves a lot to be desired. I will give him the benefit of saying that there are SO MANY characters in a Clancy novel that he must perform for, but this novel may have been better served had two or even three performers did the production because I personally found it hard, in act impossible to keep track of which character was speaking at given times. I even found myself rewinding and re-listening to different passages two or three times to figure out whom it was I was supposed to be listening to at any given time. He is no where near what I would refer to as a favorite of mine.

Did Clear and Present Danger inspire you to do anything?

It inspired me to never again listen to a Clancy novel. I had intended on buying The Hunt for Red October after this novel: needless to say, that will NOT be happening.

Any additional comments?

I hope that the Audible "Powers that be" would consider redoing the production with more than one performer to better allow the listener to be engaged by the characters. Especially the field personnel and the Coast Guardsmen. So much of their personality and sense of duty and charisma is lost by J. Charles's lack of ability to create and maintain dramatic vocal scenes in this novel. As I said, I bought a previous Clancy novel performed by Charles as well; I returned that novel and thought I'd give this one a shot. It was not a good idea on my part. I am sure Mr. Charles is great in other endeavors, however, with so many characters that Clancy presents in his novels, I don't think he is a good choice as the performer for Clancy novels. Again, I am not trying to be insulting; I am merely trying to be helpful to the Audible community and be honest in my personal opinion of this particular performer and his inability to maintain a drama and excitement filled novel. Leaving port, flying on a commercial airplane, driving in D.C. and fighting in the jungles of Colombia should NOT ALL sound or feel the same in a novel.

Almost anyone. The narration was rather flat. There was no distinction between settings. No pause, no change, nothing to tell you that there had been a change. So several sentences into the next paragraph you would realize you were no longer in DC but had moved into Colombia (for example).

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Very disappointing. This was the first Tom Clancy novel I had listened to/read. After seeing several movie adaptation of his novels I had higher expectations.

I absolutely love my audible account, makes its from enjoying a book to loving the stories found in the books.
Do forgive my errors in the reviews i do have dyslexia but i will share my love with everyone

Tom Clancy writes with a new twist, before he writes about the USSR and Terrorists, this time its about criminals who according to the president is a "clear and present danger." so how does the United States of America deal with the Colombian drug lords? the CIA creates a huge black ops mission that borders on the side of illegal. with James Greer in the hospital, Jack Ryan is acting DDI and unfortunately is kept out of the loop. unfortunately for the rest of the CIA that just makes Ryan more persistent. but what happens when a black op gets out of hand.

Tom Clancy is brilliant in how he shows that even in the US government agencies there can be divisions and mistakes. there is also integrity and loyalty found with those who challenge corruption.

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